Final Nesstination
by Killager
Summary: In the Super Smash Bros. tournament, the fate of each video game franchise lies in the might of its mentor's moveset. And the punniness of their tagline, of course. Amongst the conquering champions and gallant giants, there are youngsters. Children who'd rather beat the shit out of each other than go to school. It's not all that bad though. Jeff does their homework for them.
1. Chapter 1: Newton's Worst Flaw

It was a quiet day in Onett. The townspeople had been temporarily evacuated in light of the 'Super Smash Bros.' tournament. The roads, worn from bustling traffic, were barren. The only audible ambience was that of a secluded genius. The hustled clank and whirl of machinery echoed through the streets, for a young prodigy was assembling his latest apparatus.

Jeff Andonuts, a renowned member of the Chosen Four, had tasted adventure alongside his comrades when mankind was to witness Giygas's wrath. When the world was destined to perish, he and his friends combined their strengths to save it.

His once white shirt had dampened with sweat, and was soiled with oil and specks of blood, as he slaved over the contraption. A sigh of irritation rushed past his lips once he'd noticed the state he was in.

"Bloody clothes are rotten... The only place for them now is in the bin." Jeff thought, amongst the calculations and formulae required to develop the structure before him.

"Jeff, my main man! You okay over there?" A brisk greeting pierced the air, bouncing off the bricks. It came from a smaller, sprier young man; Ness, the Chosen Four's initial member, and one of Jeff's closest friends. He's the most energetic of the bunch, a keen baseball player and eager explorer. And he was built of friendly bones. His welcoming attitude was crucial as he and the introverted soul bonded during their vocation.

"Oh, hello there, Ness. Didn't expect to see you so soon." Jeff brought his gaze from the contraption over to his friend, along with his attention, despite the burdensome queries brimming in his brain. Ness had ascended Onett's drugstore upon spotting Jeff's construction atop the roof. Ness' presence anywhere besides in his bed before noon was a surprise, a pleasant one at that. Although Jeff found this change in manner somewhat unsettling. "I'm quite alright, thank you. It's been a while, hasn't it?"

"That's right, bud; something like, six months now?"

"Indeed, I remember seeing you off with the others last autumn." Jeff's surroundings sharpened around him as he reminded himself. Ness was barely visible besides his backpack, a striking yellow fingerprint in the distance. The flora's tints of brown and orange turned to brush strokes as tears blurred his vision. By the time Ness had treaded beyond the meandering road ahead, Jeff's lenses had greyed with fog. But crying would not calm his stirring anxiety. He feared for him. Not again... Why must this always happen?

"What's that?" Ness asked, as he pointed the end of his bat at Jeff's latest project. Jeff's pondering ceased as Ness' curiosity drew him back to reality. He observed the white paint circling itself on the bat's motif, and was nostalgic for a brief moment. A moment during which he should've responded.

"Oh, um, _that_ is a prototype for my newest rocket model." Jeff paused. A slight giggle arose under his breath as he continued. "I'm sure you're aware that my bottle rockets packed quite a punch-"

"They sure did." Ness abruptly agreed. He subconsciously felt a fully throttled plastic lid smack his nose, remembering his previous accounts of stupidity with Jeff's bottle rockets, as well as the drenching nosebleed that followed.

"Yes, although, wouldn't you agree that, for their intended purpose, more force is better?"

"Yeah, I mean, I wanna KO any losers who get in the way of these things!"

"Certainly. The reason being why I've added three extra thrusters to the base of these models, each of which are ten times more powerful than the ones I'd previously installed."

Ness' expression was more eager than understanding. "Alright! Let's see 'em in action!"

"W-what? Are you positive? It's just that… I've not an infinite collection, and when I said these rockets pack a serious punch, I… was serious." Jeff stumbled across his words as his anxiety revealed the endless possibilities of what destruction might occur in the next few minutes. A demonstration was inevitable; Ness isn't one to back down.

"Yeah! C'mon! Are you scared?" Ness provoked his friend, in order to secure an explosive display. He'd seen the bottle rockets before, when they were needed most. But Jeff's nerdy jargon of these new rockets' power and thrusters and force only encouraged his playfully mischievous nature. He approached Jeff and placed one hand on his shoulder, shaking lightly and edging closer. "The button's right there, ya chicken!" His arm travelled over Jeff's shoulders to point at a red button protruding from the metal base. "Ya gonna do it or not? It's not rocket science, pal!"

"Um, actually, it is." Jeff was blushing profusely. Desperate to draw Ness' attention away from the redness of his face, he extended his arm and surrendered. As the air before them blackened with smoke, Ness rushed to his feet and backed up, his knuckles whitening as his hand tightened around his bat's grip tape. The boys' heads jolted upwards as their gaze followed the rocket into the air. After a hysterical moment of amusement and dread, the rocket one-eightied and hurtled towards the town hall. Jeff's eyes widened behind his lenses' white sheen. Ness' hollering faded. In the blink of an eye, Onett's centrepiece was reduced to rubble.


	2. Chapter 2: New Challenger Approaching!

Ness and Jeff were speechless as the smog dispersed before them. Ness shattered the silence: "Man, what are we gonna do now?" He turned to Jeff, whose gaze remained. "…Jeff?" Ness traced his friend's observation back to the destruction before them. To his surprise, there was something else amongst the town hall's unsettled debris; the silhouette of a figure. A cloudy patch of dusk in the shape of a boy was positioned atop a jagged mound of mortar. Its eyes obstructed the light that filtered through the floating fragments. A single blot emerged, as the figure's left side was drowned in darkness.

Ness soon realised who they were squinting their eyes at. In a burst of energy, he stepped back and rushed to the rooftop door. "Jeff, don't go anywhere near that guy!" Ness asserted, as he turned to direct his voice up the stairway to his fearful friend. Not even his best sneakers could propel him as fast as his feet urged to run. Ness was usually an adept runner, but the weight of the trouble he was in left him dismayed; his descent was a clumsy scamper. He brushed the handrail with his fingers, sprinted down each step in quick succession, knocked his bat on the wall, forced out breath with every lunge of his legs. His sneakers squeaked against the tiles as he twisted his body to the side, as if to free the door in his path from its hinges. He swept his hand across the doorknob, flinging it open.

There it was; there it used to be. The town hall's remains; a magnificent wasteland, veiled in its own particulates. The only colour to be seen was that of the brown piping protruding at random angles, and on the remnants of what was a neighbouring billboard. All that was left of it was grey slabs, shattered into all shapes and sizes.

Ness scanned the rubble for the familiar figure. Jolting his head left and right, his observation failed him. For he was facing the wrong direction.  
"Behind you."  
Ness swung his body around, taking his bat with him at full speed. But there was nothing to hit it with.  
Ness' face contorted in frustration. "What the f-"  
"Here!" That voice again. Deafeningly quiet. A cold whisper that stabbed the silence like an icicle through bone.  
Ness threw his body back around, before it froze. He'd landed right in front of two eyes.  
"Found you." Ness squeaked through bared teeth, his shoulders ajar.  
"Eventually." A slender sound escaped from under its gaping stare.  
Ness' courage stabilised him. He withdrew himself from the close encounter. Recognition stirred more and more within him.

The Villager appears to be no more than a merry little man. A uniform curve of a smile is situated beneath his most distinctive feature: a triangular nose. In fact, his nose is a squashed triangular-based pyramid, with a pastel shade of red, similar to that of a rosy blush. He is taciturn, an observer, who gazes with a pair of black holes for eyes. But it was not his appearance that granted him a place in the tournament. His presence is that of a lingering undertaker. Initiating a conversation with the Villager is like opting for a recurring interrogation, in which he is the inquisitor. His relentless presence on the battlefield hindered his fellow Smashers' ability to trust him, but friendship is a trivial pursuit, a means to an end. This child singlehandedly raised a budding village into a branching network, forming connections with a nearby bustling city as well as an island. He'd earned enough money during his career to fund the building of his own mansion. Knowing someone so potently coercive, yet reserved, is both a blessing and a curse. The most reckless of the fighters convinced themselves that he was a harmless child, and thus made him their enemy. The others chose to embrace his capricious callousness, or avoid him at all costs.

Ness' eyes fixed themselves on the red shirt as soon as a blue number 1 arose into view, then retreated to his bat grip as his fist tightened around it in embarrassment. The redness of the boy's shirt had rubbed off on Ness' face. The moment had soon passed: "Why'd you do that?!" His flush returned to an angered ruddiness as he cried out. The Villager shrugged.

Ness' face was a blank canvas, disregarding the crumbly plaster and patches of chalk his cohort was caked in. After a second of stillness, Ness' blood boiled. He gesticulated in a callow temper, turning to the door. "Why I oughta…" As he walked, the Villager looked on, gratified by Ness' huff. Ness clipped his bat on the door as he held it open for him. "Ya comin' or not?"

Jeff was sat cross-legged on the rooftop, hard at work. He was hastily searching his apparatus for the reason why his prototype disastrously collided with the earth. He desperately needed a means of controlling their trajectory. His eyes, as near-sighted as they are, were tracing the base of a detached thruster, as he held it but an inch away from his face.

The rooftop door's handle creaked downwards. An impulse shot through Jeff in reaction; he instantly looked up towards the door, loosening his grip, and accidentally dropping the delicate component.

"Hey, nerd, check out who we nearly killed." Ness thumbed his nose at Jeff as he approached. He then pointed backwards with it, to the Villager, whose presence vexed Jeff as he trailed along his comrade's footsteps. Behind his glasses, Jeff failed to keep his head up and discern the Villager. His inveterate eyes induced fear in him, black and unblinking, like a vat of dark eco. Jeff retreated to his work after mere seconds of eye contact with the newcomer.

Jeff retained some peace of mind when Ness' weathered laces came into view. His soles arched upwards as he bent down to Jeff's level.

"So, what did ya- hey!" Ness collided with the concrete, for the Villager had forced him aside. His crippling stare had interrupted Jeff's reach to the component, freezing him on the spot. A forefinger sprouted from his freakish hand, and was placed upon the contraption. The other was clasping the throat of his axe, its head a hair-raising red.

"You built this, didn't you?"


	3. Chapter 3: Here Comes the Son

The side of Ness' face had collided with the tiles. The powdery debris that settled upon them was uplifted. A trace of blood dyed the once white specks a harsh red, leaving a uniform row of colour as he peeled away, hastily pushing himself from the ground. Ness stumbled onto his feet and wiped down his face, unwittingly smearing his cheek a waning crimson, as if his blood was war paint.

"W-w-well I-I um, I…" Jeff convulsed as he stuttered. The Villager had cast a shadow over him, blocking the blistering sun. "I did."

The dusty boy's clothes swayed as his hands clapped against the wooden throat of his axe. Ness retaliated by dismounting his bat from his braced shoulders. "I'm not gonna use this unless I have to." Ness affirmed, swooping it before him audaciously as he spoke.

The Villager requited Ness' threat by lavishing him with an abrupt glare, turning his head to Jeff's guardian. He leant backwards, dismissing himself from Jeff's intimate space. "You're a friend, I suspect?"

"Yeah, now back off!" Ness raised his voice, stepping forward slightly, and tilting his head to the side in gesticulation.

Jeff was acquainted with Ness' imperative resistance, as he'd always been the leader, but the armed boys were vigilant. The Villager was aware of Ness' psychic abilities; his initial intentions had dwindled. He picked up the pieces and patched plan B behind his cavernous eyes.

"How can I convince you to build one for me?" Villager cynically pondered aloud, resting his axe upon his shoulder and tapping the ground with his foot rhythmically. "Ah! I know." The Villager transferred his hand from his face to Jeff's, and the head of his axe to Jeff's neck. "If you don't, I'll take a look inside your head. See how much I can learn from you." The Villager's glassy glare and mortifying menace swathed Jeff in trepidation.

Ness lunged forward, grabbed the Villager's shoulder and restrained him, levelling his stance once again.

"You're keen, aren't you?" the intrusive boy blurted as he was lurched upright.

He glanced to the side at Ness. There was no more than an inch between them. Their eyes fixed on each other. Ness' restraint withheld, but he shifted his head and shoulders back in suspicion, and frowned at the Villager in discomfort.

"What're you lookin' at?"

His gaze remained.

Jeff's hands fell to the ground and clattered upon the rocket component. He stumbled to his feet and distanced himself from the Villager, treading backwards. Gathering his thoughts, he drew in a deep breath and adjusted his glasses. "I'll build you a rocket. What exactly are you looking for? Do you have any particular requirements?" Jeff queried. He appeared to be calm, but his tongue stirred. His fingers tapped upon the component he cradled in his clutch. Dread scratched at his throat.

"Thank you." The Villager spoke with civil politeness, and a subdued tone which unsettled his company.

Similarly to Jeff, the Villager is prematurely articulate. Unlike Jeff, he is concise. Usually, he was the most introverted of all the fighters, even more than Jeff, as well as his fellow mayors. The Villager's near-death encounter had sent adrenaline surging through him, yet still, he only spoke when necessary. Little did Ness and Jeff know that it was unlikely for them to engage in a balanced conversation with him ever again.

The Villager moved aside, freeing himself from Ness' grip. He scanned their susceptible faces. He rose his hands before him, drawing up a green metaphysical aura which circled the axe. It was enveloped amongst the energy's power, and in the blink of an eye, disappeared.

The Villager's anomalous act fractured Jeff's fettle before he could muster his stoic disposition. Jeff had witnessed an abundance of supernatural powers before, but none of them could be executed so effortlessly. His curiosity insisted that he point to where the axe once was: "H-how did you do that?"

The Villager's pupils fixed on Jeff, penetrating his thick lenses. His axe revealed itself once again. The armed boy, stoutly still, brandished it. "Do what?"

A perturbed pipe escaped Jeff's jittering throat. His surrounding walls of security collapsed atop him. He bombarded Ness with questions, desperate for understanding. "Ness… Did you see that? W-w-what was that? PSI? Did you know about this? Have you ever seen anyone, any _thing_ do that before? Can you do that? What about Paula and Poo? Can they?"

"Okay, okay, OKAY!" Jeff drowned Ness' repetitive assertions in his questions. "No, Jeff! Shut up, will ya?" A belting voice from Ness' gaping mouth demanded. "I've seen him do it before, but I'm as clueless as you are!"

Amongst the hullabaloo, no one had noticed that there was another youngster on the roof who'd omitted himself from the argument. A small, blond youth hung his head low as they all turned to look at him one by one, revealing a striking curl of hair that radiated the sunlight beaming down on the rooftop. He crossed his arms, catching a glimpse of Ness' sneakers. His arms slackened as he stood upright and discerned him.

"Lucas? Oh my God, man! C'mere!" Ness marvelled in disbelief, as he relished in the reminiscence of a familiar face.

"Hey, Ness. Sorry I'm late." A soft spoken voice trickled out.

Ness' soles left the ground as he sprang to his old friend, and their yellow-striped shirts complemented each other in a clamorous hug. Jeff's glance travelled downwards to the metal in his hand, and he fiddled with it bemusedly. The Villager was watching blankly, until the clattering caught his attention. His mouth curved upwards comfortably into a smile, resisting his urge to grin.


	4. Chapter 4: Homesick

Curiosity consumed him. Had he found another whose mind was numbed by the cold sensation of one's hands pressed against metal? Of course not. The sullen boy was upset, presumably by his friend's affectionate greeting. It would be rude not to ask.

After an extensive examination of all those around him, a green aura shrouded the Villager's axe as he pocketed it, but nobody looked. Ness and Lucas were too busy catching up on whatever it is that city folk and villagers have in common. For some, the Villager's power was no more than a gimmick once the first time had passed; such disregard on the battlefield would be a grave mistake.

The Villager treaded forward to approach Jeff once more. Jeff's glance trailed from the rocket component in his hand to the Villager's feet. His heart was already in his mouth; soft blue shoes weren't enough to disgorge it tumbling out. The fear he once felt had vanished, inciting the Villager's interest. He scuffed his knees on the chalky tiles and joined Jeff upon them. The Villager crossed his legs and stared through Jeff's glasses, pressuring him into initiating their inevitable discussion.

"You're quiet." Jeff muttered to the Villager under his breath, avoiding the involvement of Ness and Lucas.

"As are you." The Villager traced Jeff as he placed the part down.

"I presume you wish to discuss the rocket?"

"Yes, another time." The Villager leant back on his peculiar palms, tilting his head and feet side to side rhythmically.

Jeff's brows contorted for a moment, then relaxed in realisation. "Oh, certainly. The lab would be a more suitable place for that. I suggest we head there, after those two are done." His finger poked the air between the boys, glowing as they exchanged their endeavours. "Which I suppose will be a while yet. I'd imagine they believe aeons have passed since the last time they competed together." Jeff tightly interlaced his fingers before his arms rested, but the Villager's eyes chiselled at his patience. He usually appreciated new company, but not this.

"Oh. Ness talked to you about him?" The Villager questioned. The more he knew about every last fighter, the better.

"Not quite. We're friends, but... I hear things."

"Aren't you a good friend. Always listening." His smile sprouted into a smirk.

"You assume that I want to."

"And so you listen to me." The Villager cupped his hands. He glanced at the blood on Jeff's soiled shirt. "Fresh." He notified, leaning forward. Satisfied, he then looked away and lifted himself to his feet.

Jeff returned to his project. The conversation was over, thank goodness. What Jeff didn't realise was that he had told the Villager exactly what he wanted to know, and all he had to do was stretch his eyes open a little more.

The Villager's interrogation had supped Jeff's patience dry. "Alright, everyone! Let's head off." He exclaimed to the boys once he'd stood. He adjusted himself accordingly, wiping down his viridian trousers to clear off some of the dust.

"Huh? Where are we going?" Lucas inquired, stumbling out of his conversation.

"Dr A- I mean, my father's laboratory. In Winters."

"Alright! Bus trip! Bus trip!" Ness intonated as he marched towards the door, pumping his fist and swinging his bat. He held the door open for Lucas, who promptly followed his footsteps.

The crowd correlated at the nearest bus stop. They glanced down the adjoining road, which trailed for miles. It was as barren as the buildings surrounding them.

"Everything's so quiet. It's creepin' me out." Ness' family, and the majority of his friends, had been driven from his hometown. It had dawned on him that he was about to leave Onett before seeing them again. His confidence quavered.

The doors swung open and snapped Ness back into reality.

"Hey, kid. How you doing?" The bus driver beamed from his wheel when he set eyes on the local hero.

Ness stepped on first, clinging onto his leadership. His head hung low and his legs trudged forward as he reached into his pocket. The driver's smile soon ceased, so he outstretched his hand. Ness fixed his eyes on his palm and he paid for everyone's fare. He then dragged his feet down the bus before slumping into the back seat.

The driver looked down the bus as Ness walked away. "What's up with your friend there?" He asked Lucas, the next in line.

"Wish I knew, sir. Sorry." He rushed his reply, eager to find the answer. Lucas leaned over the bench to Ness in concern, slotting into the seat next to him. Ness kicked his feet up onto the empty seat in front. Jeff sat behind them. A moment of comfort was rendered abrupt by the Villager, who hushedly helped himself.

 _You're welcome_ , Jeff thought, a subdued scowl forming under his glasses. Ness giggled.

"What?" Lucas' nervous laugh was shaken by the engine that kicked into life.

The further the fighters travelled from Onett, the lower the sun swooped as it shied away. Streetlights flooded the bus in cadence. Ness drifted in and out of consciousness, between the stars and the radio's tinny music.

"What was that?"

Ness thought he noticed a flash of blue in the corner of his eye, yet brushed it off as a dream, until Lucas raised his voice. "Excuse me, driver, sir? Can we stop?"

"What's goin' on, what for?" The driver turned his head slightly, his face contorted in a dazed frustration.

"Please, I saw something!"

"C'mon, we'll be there soon, an' it's gettin' late!"

"No, I saw it too. Something crashed into that field." Jeff intervened. He gesticulated to the left, pointing into an expanse of field dotted with foliage. In the distance, a patch was lit a dull orange, with tufts of flame licking the night sky. They branched out rapidly, encompassing the coppice in light. The Villager rubbed his eyes and squinted at the flare in drowsy delicacy. Ness' eyes widened as he witnessed the wreckage. Jeff launched himself from the window ledge in fright, lunging into his lap and seizing his glasses. His eyes fixed on the fire. Something crawled out, gripping the undergrowth. "Look!" His voice broke around the lump in his throat.

"Somethin' moved! D'you see it? Oh my God, Luc, did ya see that?! Guys, we've gotta get off!" Ness cried out, clambering over Lucas to reach the driver. "Stop the bus!"


	5. Chapter 5: An Error Occurred

The flames leapt at his feet, his hands tore at the soil. The steam emitting from his body veiled him like an apparition. Jeff replayed the crash in his mind, over and over, attempting to analyse all possibilities, but there were none. As the fire's glow flicked his glasses, he stared at the unfeasible. Its existence was impossible, let alone its survival. Jeff was too smart to have hope.

"Stop the bus!" Ness squeezed through the bus' doors before they'd fully opened. "The fire's spreading; we've gotta help!"

Lucas promptly followed, shading his nose and mouth from the smoke. "But what if it's dangerous?" His best friend's safety was always of the utmost importance.

"Buzz Buzz wasn't dangerous!" He turned to Lucas, sprinting, his sneakers striping the field with each stride.

Aught but confusion crossed Lucas' mind. _Did he just say... Buzz Buzz?_

The pair closed in on what crawled from the collision, which was now still. Its body was steaming, coated in metal and dotted with red hot flecks. Ness took hold of its hands without a second thought. It was unresponsive, but the sheer heat of the metal caught him off guard. "Ah!" Ness wiped his hands down his shorts. "Help me drag it away!" Lucas bent down to hold a hand, but a warning froze him abruptly. "Whoah, man! Watch that, it's hot!" Ness' outreach shielded Lucas' palms from its hands. The field's icy air cooled the metal rapidly. The redness of its plating dulled into its silhouette, deserting the boys' faces in the darkness.

They dragged the deadweight out of harm's way. "Is this one of those robots you were talking about?" Lucas inquired. He and Ness had almost reached the bus before they felt hefty fingers outstretch from its wrists.

"Ah!" They shouted in unison, loosening their grip in fright. "What the hell?" Ness thought aloud as the figure struggled to lift itself from the ground. It shrunk back into the dirt in a smouldered mess. Sparks trailed from its limbs like fireflies.

A static groan emerged before it stood up straight. Its voice, akin to that of a young boy, was dazed: "Ugh... Where am I?" Light wavered from two round screens on his face, which flashed on and off in his struggle. Once he had stabilised, the lights emitting from his countenance seemed to resemble eyes.

Lucas cupped a hand around his wrist as he mustered the bravery to try communicating with the android. His concern for safety voiced itself yet again. "Are you okay?"

"I am – I m-m-may be okay..." The boy stumbled in place, and shook as he stammered.

Ness' swinging hand had transferred to his bat as soon as he'd let go of the child. He cautiously rested an arm upon bent knees, discerning the boy. Before long, he leant back and crossed his arms. Ness had witnessed a fair share of robots; he didn't need the light of day to recognise that this boy was another one. All Lucas could see was the robot's malfunctioning eyes, blinking in trepidation.

Once disarray had dissipated, they turned and resumed walking to the bus. Its lights shone from the row of windows and reflected the boy's blueness, illuminating his company. Lucas' pace slowed when he noticed the boy's armour. With a striking blue sheen, it encased him like a cryogenic chamber. The blue shade about him faded once they approached the bus' doors. His headpiece struck a chord in Lucas' heart as they snapped open.

Jeff rubbed his eyes, disarranging his spectacles, and gaped at the newcomer. "You – You're Mega Man!" He marveled avidly, and knelt on his seat excitedly to face the robot, who had sat behind he and the Villager.

"Yes, what is your name?" Mega Man inquired, for he was anything but a tin god. His left eye switched off, and an abashed hand rose up to it.

The Villager faced him also, and chortled. "Oh, hello. I remember you from our last 'conference'!" He hindered, relishing in his recollection. Jeff looked on, patiently waiting for the Villager's moment of madness to cease. "I thought I'd broken you for the last time." The menace loomed over Mega Man and cupped a hand upon his helmet. He clapped against it twice in torment.

"Thank you, citizen." Mega Man blinked and smiled, for the impact had fixed his eye.

"My name is _Villager_ , you worthless piece of scrap!" The Villager slumped back into his seat in scorn.

"Don't take any notice, Mega Man. I'm Jeff." Jeff reinstated Mega Man's question, distracting himself from the Villager's scowl in the corner of his eye.

"Where am I?" Mega Man queried, for his database had sprawled in the sparks that randomly sprouted from his teared joints.

"We're on our way to Dr Andonut's laboratory as we speak. You'll be patched up in a jiffy. What on Earth happened back there?"

"It was... The bad man! He is a very, bad, man." Mega Man's voice trailed in tremors. The panels encompassing his arm rose and fell in his search for the correct vocabulary. "WARNING! Return to battle!" He initiated his command in a sudden outburst. Gripping on the bus seat's bars to lift himself, a playback initiated. "Return to battle, must return to battle... Warning..."

The bus driver hollered over his shoulder. "Hey! Cut it out back there!"

And so they did. Ness and Lucas had been greatly fatigued, and were even more so after their heroic efforts. Each boy eventually relaxed, compromising their seats in all sorts of ways. All except Villager, who sat up, twiddling his thumbs in thought, with a permanent frown like a sticker under his nose.

The road before them trailed through the night. Dawn welcomed the bus to Winters. A glimmer of the sun seeped through the clouds. Their glow hazily lit the sky, and they parted from the centre, as if the light was digging itself out to clear a path for the snow. The white blanket of snow which led upon Winters was untouched. The road was the only uncovered ground to be seen for miles.

The gentle glow of morning greeted Jeff as he rubbed his eyes. He lifted his glasses up to his sleepy eyes and was daunted by the familiar sights around him. He accidentally knocked the Villager with his leg, who let out a hushed groan in response. "No, Isabelle. Take a vacation..."

"Guys, we've arrived! C'mon!" beamed Ness. "Rise an' shine!" He ruffled Jeff's hair, then fixed his own bedhead before flattening it under a red baseball cap. Stains had collected upon its peak, for it has been on more adventures than some of his fellow fighters.

Jeff sluggishly smacked his hand away and straightened his fringe. "Ness, I'm awake." Once he stumbled to his feet, he observed the passengers. All but Mega Man exhaled condensed breath, each huff resembling the chilly clouds that loomed above.

Ness tapped his foot noisily in impatience. "I thought we were supposed to be goin' to Winters. Looks like we're in Threed right now with all these zombies lyin' around." He quipped, laughing to himself. None of the boys were awake enough to find anything funny, let alone make jokes.

"Good morning, Ness." Mega Man jolted upright. His eyes lit up in response to Ness' wake up call. "We have not arrived at our destination yet. Why are you so excited?"

"We're in Winters, duh! I was joking."

Mega Man rose to his feet. His arm cannon sparked and roared to life. He approached Ness swiftly, placing a hand on his newfound comrade's shoulder. "You saved me."

"Ah, it was nothin'-"

Mega Man focused on Ness sincerely and the Mega Buster whirred. "Tell me where the zombies are."

Ness couldn't contain his laughter. "I dunno, man! They could be anywhere!" He bluffed through a crude chuckle. Mega Man proceeded to patrol the hallway, marching up and down with a determined grimace.

"Alright, boys! End of the line!" The bus driver announced, as he wrapped himself in a thick jacket to fend off the cold. The boys brushed past him and congregated on the snow.

Lucas shivered as the cold bit at his skin, despite being dressed accordingly. A tuft of blond hair framed the edge of his beanie. He rubbed gloved hands together and breathed into them, fog dispersing from his fingers.

Jeff drew in the air, cooling his lungs. It had dawned on him that an expanse of snowy hills led between the boys and their destination. "I'm fairly certain of the directions to my father's laboratory from here. We'll be there soon, as long as no one wanders off." He professed, while facing Ness. He was too shy to circulate eye contact with the others. Breathing out failed to alleviate his fear of upcoming responsibility. Jeff sighed once more as he rubbed the mist from his glasses, masking the tension in his chest. He strode up the hill marking the start of their venture. The trek would be tough.


End file.
